Ring 0: Birthday (リング0 バースデイ, Ringu Zero: Bāsudei?) is a 2000 Japanese psychological horror film. It is the prequel to the film Ring and the fourth installment in the Japanese Ringu franchise. It was directed by Norio Tsuruta, based on a screenplay by Hiroshi Takahashi. The film's screenplay is based on the short story Lemonheart from the Birthday anthology by Koji Suzuki. There is also a manga adaptation. It was nominated for Best Film at the 2001 Fantasporto. The film takes place 30 years prior to the events of Ring, and depicts the life of 19-year-old Sadako Yamamura (Yukie Nakama), the antagonist of previous films. In this film, her role shifts to that of a protagonist. The story begins with a reporter named Miyaji Akiko, whose fiancé was a reporter killed during Shizuko's ESP demonstration, as she attempts to gather more information on Sadako's past from a grade school Sadako stayed at. Meanwhile, Sadako herself joins an acting troupe and falls in love with one o...